


Out Beyond the Stars

by keirajo



Series: Random Transformers Works (multiple generations, etc.) [17]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Action/Adventure, Battle, Drama, Exploration, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, Multi, Rape/Non-con Elements, Romance, Sticky Sexual Interfacing, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:55:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27220822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keirajo/pseuds/keirajo
Summary: In his search for a new home for all Transformers, once Cybertron was destroyed--Rodimus Prime and his companions of Kup and Blurr roam the universe.   They're looking for something, but they aren't sure what or how long it will take--just as long as it feels right in the end.Then they meet an Autobot named Star Saber and are filled with new hope--and the possibility of redemption for one young Rodimus Prime, who's borne the weight of his position for only a short time, but has begun to become crushed by it.
Relationships: Star Saber/Rodimus Prime, implied Arcee/Hot Rod/Springer, implied Rodimus Prime/Galvatron, implied Star Saber/Deszaras, implied Ultra Magnus/Hot Rod
Series: Random Transformers Works (multiple generations, etc.) [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1250396
Kudos: 4





	1. Precursor notes

**Author's Note:**

> While I research for my two ongoing fics, "Torch of Victory" and "Historical Alternatives"--enjoy this short and bittersweet little tale of a love that could happen...........and a pairing tag that did not come up whatsoever. XD

_ Precursor notes: _

As an author, even writing fan-fiction, if I’m setting it in a specific existing universe……..I try very hard to get the surrounding details right. So, I’ve done at least a minimalist amount of research for the settings and backgrounds of this short, romantic, heart-wrenching tale.

The setting is specifically G1 Cartoon, however—with the modifications made by Japanese. That means “ _season 4_ ” (“ _The Rebirth_ ” pts. 1-3) do not exist. Instead, the Japanese came up with “ _The Headmasters_ ”, which was their equivalent of season 4. In all honesty, I like **_that_** version better. I get what Hasbro tried to do with “ _The Rebirth_ ”—trying to find an interaction of humans and Transformers together was the motif of what I guess is Michael Bay’s idea of “ _only humans can understand humans_ ” and that’s why the live-action Transformers films are **_NOT_** filled with more robots. And maybe that’s what the Japanese were trying with “ _Super-God Masterforce_ ”, too. But counter to that, I think when the writing is good enough—emotional enough—humans can relate to a super robot life-form just as easily as a human character.

The IDW comics gave us all of that. There were humans in some of those comics, too, but they never pre-empted the original story about the Transformers. It makes one wonder, why some companies think like that. Do you think, ever, that one day we’ll get a **_really good_** live-action film where the ratio of robot-to-human is actually **_GREATER_**? I suppose maybe I think differently because I have also been part of the furry fandom for many years as well. Anthropomorphized robots are the same as anthropomorphized animals. *shrug*

_Anyways, this is getting off-track a little………._ XD

The setting for this is in the G1 Cartoon Universe, which discards American Season 4, but includes all the successor Japanese series that encompassed G1 ( _The Headmasters, Super God Masterforce, Victory_ and _Zone_ —and if I knew more of _Battlestars_ , maybe that, too! XD). But primarily in the gap that happens during “ _The Headmasters_ ”—after Optimus Prime and a whole slew of others die, Rodimus Prime is leader again (for a short while, until he runs off………), but then when Cybertron is destroyed, he goes off into the universe to “ _look for a new home_ ” for the Transformers. He takes Kup and Blurr with him, tells Arcee to stay behind……….and the three bots fly off into space. **_WHAT?_** As to how Cybertron was destroyed—it was basically a chain of events taken advantage of by Zarak/Scorponok. When Optimus Prime opened the Matrix to stop the hate plague—it boosted something in Vector Sigma to create an alloy called Cybertonuron—which everyone basically fought over and Zarak uses Galvatron’s bullheadedness to trigger the response of destroying Cybertron. Rodimus Prime feels responsible for not being able to stop it, stop Galvatron or anything—so, _that’s_ why he decides to go look for a new home for all Transformers. His normal sense of “ _guilt_ ” resurfacing.

Okay, so some cosmetic reconstruction of season 3 and 4 are necessary to make it fit in the “ _adult canon_ ” of the universe, to create “ _adult stories_ ” and ignore things that are clearly not well thought through in execution of the cartoon(s). So, I’ll be recreating some familiar background where necessary. Rodimus Prime, Kup and Blurr are not going to fly off into space under their own power—they’re going to be legitimate and **_take a spacecraft_** , right? So, **_THAT_** will be altered. Also, for the “ _cosmetically reconstructed_ ” cartoon background—it’s interesting to keep in mind that Japanese season 3 was noted as **_2010_** , not **_2006_** as it was in America. “ _Transformers: Victory_ ” takes place in **_2025_** , with Ginrai wooing Star Saber into commanding shortly before “ _Victory_ ” starts in 2025. Technically in the anime, Rodimus and crew didn’t come back at the end………but the manga (now translated maybe about 85% accurately by VIZ Media here in the U.S., I take issue with some names however—come on, get the katakana R/L thing right, okay???) has an chapter that wraps up that loose end anyways. Given for the most part many series—unless specifically noted in Japan—that run for **_ONE_** year tend to take place over the course of **_ONE_** year. If “ _The Headmasters_ ” took place over a year—there’s a year that Rodimus and crew were out in space and could legitimately meet a “ _pre commanding officer_ ” Star Saber.

Here’s something to note of planet Master—where the Headmasters come from and successive other “ _toylines_ ” that had the “ _-master_ ” suffix added to them. Planet Master is basically a world where Cybertronian refugees fled to, much like Paradron in the third season episode of “ _Fight or Flee_ ”. The environment of planet Master was harsh and many took to use it as training—to become better and stronger. Also, to fit on a new world with fewer resources for them—they created the “ _Master_ ” technology to reduce their sizes and conserve resources. **_Transtectors_** were awarded to those who trained the hardest and achieved great personal growth. Like any other planet, though—over time they cyberformed it and it has great cities on it as well as the harsh environments to train in. So, there are citizens who enjoy the severe training regimes, as well as those who just want to live small, personal lives.

Here’s some basic Star Saber information, too—for background of anyone who didn’t know/haven’t seen Victory/only familiar with the IDW interpretations by Simon Furman or James Roberts. Star Saber is known as the “ _greatest swordsman in the universe_ ”, he is an **_Autobot Brainmaster_** from the planet known as “ _Master_ ”—specifically he is known as the **_Brain of Courage_**. (Other Autobot Brainmasters represent a different ideal—their Decepticon counterparts are the **_Breastforce_** , which, yes, has been subject to a million translations to try and soften the meaning for Westerners who giggle too much at the name.) His catchphrase is commonly known as “ _Let’s say go!_ ”—which is a pun/play on words with the Japanese word “ ** _seigou_** ”, that can be translated as _coordination_ or _integration_ , as basically the Brainmasters are small mechs that integrate with larger robot bodies known as Transtectors (which was also used in Headmasters—of whom they are also from planet Master). While his Brainmaster portion has no specific name (some translators use the “ _courage_ ” or “ _yuuki_ ” part to give him the name of **_Yuuki_** ), when combined with the normal Transtector, he’s known as “ _Saber_ ”. It is only when he “ _Battle Up!_ ” merges with the **_V-Star_** vehicle that he becomes known as “ _Star Saber_ ”. Over 500,000 years ago, he locked Deszaras and his planet-destroying fortress in a gravity cell in the Dark Nebula—then chose to wander the universe “ _doing good_ ” since.

That’s the basic background information what we’re going with here. Other necessary “ _rewrites_ ” of canon cartoon history will be “ _flashbacked_ ” to in a proper, suitable manner to fit the age group and maturity level of this work. Therefore, this precursor note will also provide you with the warnings—which will be repeated on every chapter uploaded, just in case. :)

**_ Rating _ ** **: Explicit.**

**_ Warnings _ ** **: References to past events of rape, non-con interactions, violence, battering/abuse, emotional abuse. Also, explicit sexual situations—of which, not all are on a “romantic” level.**

**_ Primary pairing _ ** **: Star Saber and Rodimus Prime—with an interchangeable seme/uke relationship.**

**_ Inferred relationships or pairings (not all are positive relationships) _ ** **: Star Saber/Deszaras, Rodimus Prime/Galvatron, Rodimus Prime or Hot Rod/Ultra Magnus, and Arcee/Hot Rod/Springer.**

**_ Other Tags _ ** **: action, adventure, romance, drama, sadness, rape, non-con, sexual interfacing, love, friendship, war, fighting, comfort, exploration.**


	2. A Fallen Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rodimus Prime meets Saber.

**_ Rating _ ** **: Explicit.**

**_ Warnings _ ** **: References to past events of rape, non-con interactions, violence, battering/abuse, emotional abuse. Also, explicit sexual situations—of which, not all are on a “romantic” level.**

**_ Primary pairing _ ** **: Star Saber and Rodimus Prime—with an interchangeable seme/uke relationship.**

**_ Inferred relationships or pairings (not all are positive relationships) _ ** **: Star Saber/Deszaras, Rodimus Prime/Galvatron, Rodimus Prime or Hot Rod/Ultra Magnus, and Arcee/Hot Rod/Springer.**

**_ Other Tags _ ** **: action, adventure, romance, drama, sadness, rape, non-con, sexual interfacing, love, friendship, war, fighting, comfort, exploration.**

**_ Out Beyond the Stars _ **

_ Chapter One: A Fallen Star _

_Pain lanced through Rodimus Prime’s right limbs, both his arm and his leg. It left him with a feeling that was very nearly numbing all possible sensory information from his armour and derma. But Galvatron didn’t care—pain and pleasure were the very same things to the Emperor of Destruction. How did the young Autobot Leader wind up in this situation?_

_“Try again, dear Cyclonus—I do not think he feels it yet,” the maddeningly familiar voice chortled._

_That’s right—Rodimus and some Autobots were assisting a refugee protection situation on one of the Galactic Alliance’s worlds. Young Rodimus Prime could fight one or maybe two Decepticons on his own, but when the entire Sweep contingent bore down on him—he couldn’t help but be dragged off by Galvatron’s barely intelligent minions._

_Scourge only directed the assault and kidnapping, he took no further responsibility, because he didn’t like getting in trouble—whether that trouble came from the Autobots or from his very own Decepticon Leader, whose whims could change radically at any given moment. The blue-colored head of the Sweeps didn’t feel like being Galvatron’s punching bag at any point during this day—so, he’d take credit if it went well, but he’d blame the stupid Sweeps if it went wrong._

_**‘Magnus is gonna be so mad at me………….maybe Galvatron will kill me this time?’** The flame-colored mech thought as he tried to cut off pain receptors in his right limbs._

_“No, you do not get to do that— **Rodimus Prime** ,” the Decepticon’s dark voice purred, somewhere close to his audial. “You forget that I cracked your firewalls again. You should not even bother to keep rebuilding them—your poor maintenance of your systems should serve as your pain for failure.”_

_His hip-plating, torn open and damaged severely by Galvatron’s claw-tipped servos………it laid open his dataports and the Decepticon Leader had forced his way in and crushed any resistance inside of Rodimus Prime’s own programming. It **wasn’t** the first time—and odds were, it wouldn’t be the last time. _

_**‘What have I done wrong? Why am I always………?’** Rodimus thought, his consciousness wavering in-and-out. He felt the only reason he had any consciousness left was because Galvatron was forcing him to remain conscious by spiking up his programs and protocols with “ **negate recharge** ” commands._

_He remembered what happened next, the forcing open of his array panelling and…….._

“ ** _Gaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!_** ” Rodimus Prime screamed, jerking bolt upright on the plain recharge slab and slamming his head right into the low ceiling of the ship’s bunk area.

The hit with the ceiling knocked him back flat on the recharge slab and his optics flashed with strobes as they tried to process the _pain-notpain-newpain_ sensory data.

The flame-colored mech listened to the heavy roaring of his own engines and raised one servo to feel along the wall next to his bunk as he covered his optics with his other servo. That was right—it wasn’t that moment back then, it was **_now_**. Now he was on a small space-faring ship with Kup and Blurr—they were going out looking in the universe for a world that might be suitable for all Transformers, in the wake of Cybertron’s death and destruction.

_‘Do all Transformers have dreams like me—or is it just me?’_ He thought as he slowly tried to sit up and was very careful of the low ceiling above the bunk this time.

“Lad, I heard you scream—are you all right?” Kup said, poking his head and shoulders around the doorframe from the small piloting area in front of the bunks.

“ _I’m fine_. Just memories. I wish I could purge them as easily as a temp virus,” Rodimus Prime sighed.

There was a residual tingling in his right arm and leg—as if the memories of that torture and rape from that day had just happened to him a day ago. That day had been the worst of all the times Galvatron had………done things to him. For the first time since he’d become Rodimus Prime—Ultra Magnus had spent the whole recharge cycle with him, just holding him.

“Magnus. _Dammit_ ,” he muttered. 

Thinking about the skilled old Autobot soldier who had been his Second-in-Command—and before that, a respected friend and teacher………and lover, a few times, when he’d been Hot Rod—thinking about all of that just brought pain to his Spark, because Ultra Magnus was gone, too. While Ultra Magnus had loved him as Hot Rod—he kept a distance when the flame-colored mech became Rodimus Prime. Rodimus never understood why………was it because he was bigger? Not small and cute anymore? Or was it because he was the Autobot Leader and personal relations would be “ _taboo_ ” to the old soldier?

Of course, young Rodimus Prime could never broach that particular subject with Ultra Magnus. It seemed the moment had passed when they might have had something together. Until the brutal torture and rape—Ultra Magnus and the Autobots had arrived just barely in time to save his life and at least Magnus spent the next few days with him. It wasn’t the same as a “ _relationship_ ” anymore, but at least he could be comforting to the flame-colored mech.

“Can I take over for you early, Kup? I don’t think I’m going to get anymore recharge right now,” the flame-colored mech asked, swinging his legs over the edge of the slab.

“Son, Blurr’s next at the helm—so, **_nope_** , you can’t relive me early,” the blue-grey oldmech chuckled fondly.

Rodimus Prime sighed and crawled up to the piloting station, resting his arms on the curved panelling that separated the left side from the right side of the helm. He felt like one of the Dinobots, sneaking up on Kup while he was busy, to beg for a story. That thought made the young Autobot Leader chuckle. There was a time like this, before………….well, when all that business happened with him destroying Unicron and becoming Autobot Leader. And it was a way larger shuttle than this little craft that was meant to travel from planet-to-planet basically and designed for no more than four people to be on it at one time.

“Do you think we’ll find something, Kup? I mean, even if not an actual planet we can claim……….maybe one of those rare refugee worlds, like Paradron?” Rodimus Prime murmured softly.

“We’ve only been out here a couple months, lad— _these things take time_ ,” the oldmech chuckled, reaching over and patting the flame-colored mech fondly on the helm. “Maybe you and Blurr oughta….?” He began, when suddenly Rodimus slapped a servo over his mouth, chuckling at the oldmech’s suggestion.

“ _Me and Blurr? **Really?**_ ” Rodimus laughed softly. “But seriously, Kup—I don’t have the enthusiasm for _that_. Not since…………you know, **_then_**.”

“Yeah, I got’cha, lad,” Kup responded with a wry smile. “Maybe you can call ahead to that planet we’re approaching—we need to refuel and charge the ship,” he said, pointing to the navicomp’s display at a blue-ish spot on it.

Rodimus hauled himself up onto his pedes and then settled down in the co-pilot’s seat. He tapped into the communications panel and routed it to his audial sensors to keep the communique quiet. After listening to the planet’s representatives that he made contact with, he gave a little sigh at the end of the communication.

“They don’t want us there long, our infamy spreads ever further I suppose,” the flame-colored mech sighed. “They gave us clearance to land in a desert area, away from any of their cities. A representative can come to purchase things in the nearest city—but only **_ONE_** of us.”

Kup nodded, a grim smile on his faceplate.

“It should be Blurr. I’m too recognizable, but Blurr’s very friendly and sociable,” Rodimus Prime said, nodding.

“If the kid can slow down his vocalizer to talk at a normal speed ta these guys,” the oldmech chuckled softly.

“YouknowIcandothatifIwantto. Seriously, I can talk at a normal pace, but where’s the fun in that?” Blurr grunted, slowing down his vocalizer speed at the second half of his statement. The bright-blue colored mech leaned against the doorframe and folded his arms across his chest. “Idunno,Roddy—don’t’chathinkitshouldbe ** _you_**? Imean,you’rereallygoodattalkingwithpeople.” 

Rodimus Prime gave a deep sigh and leaned back in the chair, tilting his head over the back a little bit to flash a brief smile at Blurr. “I’m not up to it right now, sorry. I might slip up and say something dumb at this point,” he said, then focused his gaze out the front viewing window and gazing at the distant stars and empty space before them.

“Allright,then. I’lldoit,butIstillthink ** _you_** shouldbetheone,” the bright-blue colored mech responded, shrugging his shoulders and then he went back into the bunk area, sat on a recharge slab and began stretching his legs and murmuring little vocal exercises to try and keep himself slowed down long enough to negotiate down on the planet.

* * * * *

It was nighttime on the planet—an organic inhabited world called Regil. Blurr was still gone, but had called and said he’d gotten some supplies, just that he was trying to find a transport for them. Kup said he’d take a quick recharge while they were waiting and Rodimus said he’d go on a walk outside and make sure to stay near the spacecraft. He didn’t want to wander too far, because the natives had clearly wanted them to keep away from the main cities.

Away from the cities and their artificial lighting—it was actually very nice out here in the desert. A little bit cool, with a cool breeze. Rodimus Prime looked up at the starry sky—the patterns of the stars were far different here than on Earth or on Cybertron. Then he suddenly saw a moving star—with a trail……..

“ _Ah_ , meteorite,” the flame-colored mech chuckled. But back on Earth they had a little myth or legend that if you “ _wished on a shooting star_ ”, it would come true. “Well, if there **_is_** any truth to that—shooting star, please grant my wish and let me get a good full cycle of recharge sometime soon. No more stupid dreams and phantom pains.”

He incycled a deep breath and shuttered his optics for a few moments as he made that little wish. Then he onlined his optics again and looked up into the starry sky. Suddenly he saw **_another_** moving star in the sky.

“Must be a meteor shower……..” he murmured. Then he watched as the “ _moving star_ ” seemed to get bigger and brighter. “ _Primus!_ That’s **_not_** a meteorite— _that’s a falling object!_ A ship?” Rodimus grunted, rubbing a digit alongside his left optic and his scanning visor came down. He plotted its trajectory and it looked like it was coming down not far away, here in the desert. 

He transformed into his Earth camper alt mode and sped towards the projected landing area. Rodimus Prime arrived just as the object crashed and left a huge skid of dirt and sand behind it. Thankfully, as the front end dove into the dirt and sand, that helped put out its fiery frame. Rodimus transformed back into his primary mode and had his multi-tool right arm already set up for a vacuum mode. He began to blow away dirt and debris from the frame and was very surprised to find a smudged red wing with the Autobot brand on it.

“ _An Autobot?_ ” The flame-colored mech murmured. He began to wipe sand and dirt away with one servo, using his multi-tool arm in vacuum mode to blow away more of it.

As he uncovered more of the frame, he’d begun to wonder if it were one of the Aerialbots—but it wasn’t the right kind of design when he found more of the shape of the plane. It wasn’t quite the shape of an Earth plane, though had some vague similarities to it. It seemed a little bit like a spaceplane and he definitely did not recognize the design as any Autobot he was familiar with. But the colors were mostly red, with a little bit of white and blue on the underside.

Then Rodimus Prime saw the hole in the side of the red spaceplane’s side, probably a shoulder joint in primary mode—it was oozing Energon-infused lifeblood, but the oozing was slow. So, the wound was coagulating already. It would need to be cleaned up and dressed properly to heal though!

“ _Hey…….. **hey**!_ Can you transform? I can’t drag you back to my ship in **_this_** form!” Rodimus asked, loudly, as he tapped a few digits on the canopy window of the spaceplane.

There were a few loud bursts of static as the Autobot tried to boot up its vocalizer. Then a deep voice, with a slightly odd accent, responded in an older Cybertronian dialect.

“I’ll try. My apologies that it might take me a slow bit,” the mech responded—or at least, the tone sounded more mech than femme to Rodimus Prime. Some of his wording was a bit odd, but it might have been the sound of the older Cybertronian dialect.

Rodimus hopped back and watched, hopefully, as the spaceplane tried to shift and transform. It looked like it was very painful for the mech to do so. There was a lot of shifting and moving of his frame, but eventually it looked like the Autobot had managed to transform into his primary mode. He stood up and wobbled a little on his pedes, until the flame-colored mech dashed forwards to steady him with his own frame. The mech was colored white, red and blue—with the blue comprising the primary part of his upper frame, the red comprising the lower part and the back (which showed with some of the spaceplane design parts) and the white highlighted derma and design layers.

“How do you feel?” Rodimus asked, drawing the stranger Autobot in a path back towards where his ship was. He sent a glyph ahead to Kup, asking the oldmech to try and find any first aid kit supplies that he could on the spacecraft.

“I could possibly be better. _This_ won’t keep me out long,” the mech chuckled. He had a blue visor shield over his optic glass, which looked to possibly be yellow-gold? “Sorry if my words sound odd. Your dialect’s different than mine.”

“Yeah, I could tell. I’m Rodimus Prime, from Cybertron,” the flame-colored mech said, grinning at the mech that he was carrying by way of shoulder bracing.

“They call me Saber, I’m from planet Master,” the mech responded with a warm smile. “I’ve not heard Cybertron in long times past,” he responded, shaking his head lightly. “I knew of a Prime a long time ago. But never was meeting him.”

“Probably Optimus,” the young Autobot Leader replied.

“ _Yes_. Thinking that’s right name,” Saber said, nodding gently. “Talking more later after heal, maybe?”

“Yeah, that’s probably the right idea,” Rodimus said, getting Saber into the spacecraft and sat him down on his recharge slab in the bunk area.

Kup stretched arms above him in the doorway to the piloting area and nodded at the first aid kit on the floor. “Ain’t much, son………but it’ll serve for now,” he said. “I brought some boiling water to clean the wound and I called Blurr to ask if he’d negotiate some more water for us,” he added.

In Saber’s primary mode, the wound appeared to be in his right shoulder and partway down the side. Rodimus Prime began cleaning the wound with the boiling water and a steel-mesh sponge, scraping away dirt and crisped armour and derma. Kup knelt and began searching for bandage mesh and clamps. The blue-grey colored oldmech grunted as he found a nanite-boost gelpack that didn’t look old enough to be completely **_UN_** _usable_.

“Took a blast from a pyro-sniper rifle, looks like,” Kup said, eyeing the wound critically. “The burns…….” he added, pointing them out to Rodimus.

“Exactly,” Saber chuckled. “Appreciate the medicining. If I’m not a bother, may I rest with you all for a little while?” He asked, glancing between Kup and Rodimus Prime.

“Ain’t heard your accent in forever. One of the refugee planets?” Kup asked, cracking open the nanite-boost gelpack and slathering it on the wound as Rodimus turned away to prepare the bandages.

“From long ago, yes,” Saber responded with a smile up at Kup.

“We’re not supposed to stay on this planet long. But if you don’t mind going out to space with us, you can stay until you’re healed up enough,” Rodimus Prime responded as he placed the bandage mesh all across the long wound and then pressed the clamps down hard on it, so they adhered to armour and derma.

“I can travel where I need. My craft can be remoted to follow us. V-Star won’t be an issue,” Saber chuckled. “Currently out in orbit.”

“ _Eh_. Nothing like towing along other craft. We could use any data you have on the nearby systems, though, kiddo,” Kup chuckled, reaching over and patting Saber on top of his helm.

The blue-and-red mech gave a warm little laugh and a soft purr. He hadn’t been treated this kindly in a very long time.


	3. Old Wounds Make Fresh Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saber joins the small crew of Rodimus Prime, Kup and Blurr--and begins to grow close to Rodimus Prime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've said this in other works before--I believe in the importance of language. As someone who wishes they knew more than just my native English fluently--I know a bare smattering of Spanish and a decent chunk of Japanese, but nowhere near fluently enough to travel to another country and talk with people in their own language, or understand what others say to me. XD
> 
> Most works are happy to use the "universal translator" option........thanks to shows like "Star Trek" and "Hitchhiker's Guide" giving us lovely science-fiction workarounds to the fact that everyone speaks a different language. Even here on Earth in various countries--people in different areas speak different versions of a particular language. Compare English to the UK, where it came from........and then how it evolved in continents like North America and Australia, right?
> 
> Given these "refugee worlds" in the Transformers universe would probably be millions of years ago--it's almost a given Cybertronian would evolve differently on their worlds. But when you're writing a thing in a single language, trying to depict other languages is always a task. When some companies translate manga into English, they'd make a Kansai accent by having them speak like "Southerners" here in the U.S. So, when you're using one language to "translate" different ones and different dialects, you do what you can to make it slightly different--and that's why Saber is speaking "oddly" to Rodimus and the others. It makes him sound strange or "uneducated", but it is more that his "word arrangement" is different in the evolved form of Cybertronian he uses.
> 
> It's also why in my GalvaRod works and in my Star Voyager series--I have Galvatron and Ultra Magnus speak very formally. It's the way I remember hearing them in the cartoon growing up--I don't remember many contractions ("do not", as opposed to "don't") spoken, though as I watch nowadays I hear that's not the case. But it's the way I remember them speaking, so I try very hard to follow those rules--to make the way they speak unique to them.
> 
> Soon we'll get to Saber revealing himself as Star Saber. But not too soon. *chuckle*

**_ Rating _ ** **: Explicit.**

**_ Warnings _ ** **: References to past events of rape, non-con interactions, violence, battering/abuse, emotional abuse. Also, explicit sexual situations—of which, not all are on a “romantic” level.**

**_ Primary pairing _ ** **: Star Saber and Rodimus Prime—with an interchangeable seme/uke relationship.**

**_ Inferred relationships or pairings (not all are positive relationships) _ ** **: Star Saber/Deszaras, Rodimus Prime/Galvatron, Rodimus Prime or Hot Rod/Ultra Magnus, and Arcee/Hot Rod/Springer.**

**_ Other Tags _ ** **: action, adventure, romance, drama, sadness, rape, non-con, sexual interfacing, love, friendship, war, fighting, comfort, exploration.**

_ Chapter Two: Old Wounds Make Fresh Scars _

The small Autobot ship left the planet Regil and went back into space. Once at a “ _safe_ ” distance from the planet where they stopped and resupplied, they stopped and let the solar cells recharge on the ship. Blurr and Rodimus looked out the back viewport at Saber’s vessel that he called the “ _V-Star_ ”.

“ ** _That’s_** your ship, Saber?” Rodimus Prime asked, glancing back at the mech laying on his own slab, with a datapad raised above him, to read.

“ _Mmmm_. It is……..this is becoming difficult to explain. Our word is………..” he trailed off, saying a word that sounded completely foreign to the two younger Cybertronians. Saber entered a search on the datapad to try and find a modern Cybertronian word, when Kup even said from the front piloting station that he’d never heard the word before. “Perhaps-maybe, _accessory_? It is a………. _maybe-booster_?” The mech from planet Master mumbled, a bit puzzled by the various terms that came up for him on the datapad. “When I use my alt-mode, I can connect with my V-Star and it allows me to travel more through space—my alt-mode can only go limited far on the own.”

“I get that. You know how on Earth, Blurr—the humans put the massive booster rockets on their shuttles? I think it’s like _that_ , right?” The flame-colored mech whispered to his bright-blue colored companion.

“Mmmmm.Soundslikethat’saboutright,” Blurr whispered back with a light chuckle. “GonnagoprepsomeEnergon,backshortly!” He laughed, walking to the back part of the small 4-bunk hab area and going into the large multi-purpose room at the back of the ship that served as storage and prep.

“Blurr is quite nice, but is he damaged in some odd way?” Saber asked as he carefully sat up, trying not to jostle his right shoulder much or put pressure on his side.

“ _Nahh_ , that’s just Blurr—kid’s gotta do everything at warp speed,” Kup laughed warmly from his seat in the piloting area. He wasn’t doing any piloting, but he was sorting through some navigation logs and maps. “Ya get used to it, _trust me_. Since we’re in some downtime, why don’t you tell us a bit about your planet? How long ago did the refugees find it?”

“ _Hmmm_ , well, planet Master is nothing very too special. It was an uninhabited world when the refugees found it that way—harsh, trying environments all over the whole planet. Over so much time, parts have been cyberformed for comfort and society, many prefer their normal luxuries now times. But some of us still like to be tested, Deszaras and I……….” Saber said, trailing off. Then he realized a name he didn’t want to say had escaped from him. “There are some many of us who still go out into the vast wilderness and try ourselves against the harsh environments. We emerge at our best when we do and our society gives special rewards to those who have chosen to prove a greatness in personal growth.”

Rodimus knew that when someone cut themselves off from speaking of another—it was some kind of personal grief involved, so he knew not to ask anything more about the “ _Deszaras_ ” person. Kup was certainly old enough to **_not pry_** into something clearly very personal. Blurr, however, only heard part of the conversation when he came back in with a 4-count carrier of Energon tumblers.

“What’sa ** _Deathsaurus_**? SoundslikeanEarthkaijuu!” The fast-talking mech laughed. “Spike ** _loved_** thosemovies,DanielandCarly,notsomuch!”

Rodimus Prime facepalmed himself. But Saber chuckled. So, the young Autobot Leader knew that the mech hadn’t taken it personally.

“I know not what an _‘Earthkaijuu’_ is, but it sounds something kind amusement,” the red-and-blue mech said with a grin and murmur of thanks up at Blurr, as he took a tumbler full of Energon from the bright-blue colored mech. “Kup, I give many thanks for the datapad—I will try much harder to learn the modern Cybertronian and speak better with you all soon.”

“It might help to sleep-learn,” Rodimus said, suddenly. He took a tumbler from Blurr and sat down crosslegged in the center of the floor of the hab area. “That’s like a data-absorption thing, which you can do during recharge. Do you have dataports? You can connect the datapad to one of your ports and run a learning program while you’re in recharge.”

“Our…… _dataports_ are located differently within our many systems,” Saber responded with a frown and a shrug of one shoulder.

“ _Mmmm_. Maybe a wireless connection, then. Kup—does your datapad have a wireless connection for audial?” Rodimus called, leaning forwards a little bit so he could peer into the piloting area.

“ _Pffft_ , heck if I know, lad,” the oldmech laughed, waving a servo to show he had absolutely no idea what this “ _modern technology_ ” was.

Wireless was something of a modern oddity to Kup, who’d known only hardwire connections all his life. Rodimus smiled up at Saber and waved a hand for the datapad. He looked at it and looked through the settings. Blurr came over and peered over his shoulder, pointing to a couple of things on the screen.

“Saber—do any of these access marks look like yours?” The flame-colored mech asked, turning the datapad over to the red-and-blue mech.

“ _Mmmm_. **_This_** one,” he murmured, pressing the connection name on the screen. “ _Oh!_ Yes, that is quite the different kind of thing!” He laughed as he got a ping on his HUD asking him to confirm wireless access. “Perhaps, then, I can learn the modern kind of intricacies of the Cybertronian language as I recharge and not sound quite so very much backwater to you.”

“Here, let me set up the language learning program to run—then all you have to do is press play before you recharge,” Rodimus Prime chuckled warmly, swiping through a few screens and putting the language learner program on standby.

“Before we recharge, perhaps you can tell me of that Earth place?” The blue-and-red mech asked with a smile.

“It’saprettyniceplace. Organic,oxygencarbonandallthatstuff,” Blurr said, flopping down onto his bunk across the room from Saber. “Variedanimalsandfleshlingsthatcallthemselvesthedominantlife-form,thoughIcoulddebate ** _that_** onthecaseofwhalesanddolphins……..” the bright-blue colored mech chuckled.

“Don’t get me wrong, ‘cause I _like_ the humans—but there are times when I think maybe even their rats and roaches might be smarter than some of them,” Kup grunted, shaking his head.

Blurr laughed heartily and Rodimus Prime placed a servo over his mouth to prevent his laughter from being heard too much. Saber shook his head and chuckled. But he was aware that it was the nature of life to make fun of “ _what wasn’t like them_ ”—even if they loved all the other species they were making fun of.

“I could argue that an Earth cockroach is smarter than _some Transformers_ ,” Rodimus added, giggling softly.

“ ** _That_** isdefinitelytrue!” Blurr laughed.

“It has a lot of oceans and large land masses, filled with various environments—though, they are poorly maintaining their natural environments and are losing much of their world’s natural beauty as they become selfish and build more and more artificial structures,” Rodimus Prime added, a little bit of sadness rippling through his EM field for a few moments as he described the Earth in general. “Anyways—it’s not our business to interfere. I just hope they figure it out before they have nothing left to salvage on their world.”

“True for that,” Saber responded with a wise nod.

Then the flame-colored mech stood up and stretched. He walked into the piloting area and patted Kup on the shoulder. “All right, you oldmech—it’s _my_ shift up here, so you get some rest,” he said with great fondness in his voice for the dusky-blue colored oldmech.

“ _Yeah, yeah_ ,” Kup chuckled, rising to his pedes and walking back into the hab room. He leaned down and pulled the block out from beneath Blurr’s recharge slab and pulled it to the center of the room before locking it down with the mag-clamps, to the floor.

There was a little bit more chatter, before finally the three mechs in the hab room went into recharge—and Rodimus Prime was left alone with silence and stillness, only a light recharge hum from the three mechs barely audible in the area. He started looking through all the navigation logs and maps that Kup had been poring over and started looking for a travel route to look for more worlds they might be able to make into a new home for all Cybertronians.

* * * * *

_Pain lanced through Rodimus Prime’s right limbs, both his arm and his leg. It left him with a feeling that was very nearly numbing all possible sensory information from his armour and derma. But Galvatron didn’t care—pain and pleasure were the very same things to the Emperor of Destruction. How did the young Autobot Leader wind up in this situation?_

_“Try again, dear Cyclonus—I do not think he feels it yet,” the maddeningly familiar voice chortled._

_That’s right—Rodimus and some Autobots were assisting a refugee protection situation on one of the Galactic Alliance’s worlds. Young Rodimus Prime could fight one or maybe two Decepticons on his own, but when the entire Sweep contingent bore down on him—he couldn’t help but be dragged off by Galvatron’s barely intelligent minions._

_Scourge only directed the assault and kidnapping, he took no further responsibility, because he didn’t like getting in trouble—whether that trouble came from the Autobots or from his very own Decepticon Leader, whose whims could change radically at any given moment. The blue-colored head of the Sweeps didn’t feel like being Galvatron’s punching bag at any point during this day—so, he’d take credit if it went well, but he’d blame the stupid Sweeps if it went wrong._

_**‘Magnus is gonna be so mad at me………….maybe Galvatron will kill me this time?’** The flame-colored mech thought as he tried to cut off pain receptors in his right limbs._

_“No, you do not get to do that— **Rodimus Prime** ,” the Decepticon’s dark voice purred, somewhere close to his audial. “You forget that I cracked your firewalls again. You should not even bother to keep rebuilding them—your poor maintenance of your systems should serve as your pain for failure.”_

_His hip-plating, torn open and damaged severely by Galvatron’s claw-tipped servos………it laid open his dataports and the Decepticon Leader had forced his way in and crushed any resistance inside of Rodimus Prime’s own programming. It **wasn’t** the first time—and odds were, it wouldn’t be the last time. _

_**‘What have I done wrong? Why am I always………?’** Rodimus thought, his consciousness wavering in-and-out. He felt the only reason he had any consciousness left was because Galvatron was forcing him to remain conscious by spiking up his programs and protocols with “ **negate recharge** ” commands. The only benefits he had were his own mind and he was allowed to have his optics offline and not bear any visual witness to his humiliation and rape._

_“Wrong? You have done **nothing wrong** , my dear young Autobot Leader—you are simply ill-prepared for any contingency. You throw yourself out as a shield before everyone, when you should honestly take care of yourself, first—and let your minions do the work,” Galvatron chortled, easily reading the flame-colored mech’s thoughts, as they were connected through hardwire dataport cabling. The Decepticon Leader’s clawed servo searched for the microseams of his array panelling and then dug in, ripping the array panelling completely off from Rodimus Prime’s groinplating._

_The young Autobot Leader screamed as the pain shot back through his entire groinplating area and throbbing pain began lancing up through his circuits, into his chest. Galvatron dampened all the sensors as he forced a fresh “ **negate recharge** ” command through all of the flame-colored mech’s systems._

_Galvatron had his command codes—he could make Rodimus Prime do or feel anything._

_Including pleasure._

_Despite the fact that pleasure was the very last thing the flame-colored mech wanted to feel right now, as pain throbbed in his entire right side and groin-area. Even though he didn’t want to feel it—Rodimus shivered as a “ **pleasure ignition** ” command was given to him and he felt his array throb with longing, dripping with lubricant._

_“He does accept commands quite easily, my lord—it is hard to believe that he is a commander of his own forces,” Cyclonus’ familiar voice responded, with a bare hint of amusement in it._

_“Indeed. One wonders if he does not look forward to being taken prisoner and humiliated like this?” Galvatron chortled. “Pierce the joint at the shoulder now, drive the spear further down his side—be sure to keep it near the surface, but right below the dermal layer of his armour.”_

_A deeper and sharper pain went through his entire right side and he thought for sure his arm was going to break off, but Galvatron cancelled any pain sensory data and flooded him with “ **pleasure ignition** ” and “ **negate recharge** ” commands—trying to train the flame-colored mech to respond to pain with ecstasy and not to pass out._

_Only Rodimus Prime’s mind was still his own—and he cried as his own body shuddered with pleasure, inducing his EM field to ripple out with longing and lust. He wanted to be anywhere but here right now—in fact, **he’d rather die**!_

_“Like I would allow you to die when there is still so much fun we can have right now, my dear little Autobot Prime,” the deep voice purred near his audial. “I will not even deign to kill you, since it seems to be what you wish—no, you will live. I will **make** you live.”_

_Then Rodimus felt Galvatron’s presence move away for a few moments, obviously not far away, as the dataport cables were still connected._

_“This should fit nicely in that dripping valve of yours, dear Rodimus Prime,” the Decepticon Leader chortled, shoving some kind of small pole or something into his valve roughly._

_The flame-colored mech squeaked and squealed and cried, but he wasn’t allowed to feel his true pain and terror—Galvatron’s command over his systems forced him to feel only pleasure and to not lose consciousness. He was awake through all of his humiliation and rape—and unable to feel the shame that he knew he felt in his Spark._

_Suddenly there were explosions. Galvatron swore vehement curses and suddenly the dataport cable connections were cut and Rodimus Prime slipped into blessed unconsciousness. When he managed to come out of a long, **forced** recharge cycle—commanded by a medic, it seemed, by the marks left in his maintenance programs—he was aware of being embraced by large, familiar arms._

_“ **Shhh**. Don’t speak right now, Rodimus— **you don’t have to** ,” Ultra Magnus’ familiar, warm voice said to him, somewhere near his audial. “You’ve been in a healing recharge cycle for a week now. You just wouldn’t let go of me when we got you back—we couldn’t put you in a tank.”_

_Rodimus had an amusing thought—had Magnus **actually** been holding him for an entire week?_

_“And yes, I have been with you through the whole week,” his Second-in-Command responded, as if knowing what he was thinking. “You’ve made it difficult for me to get any work done, but I’ve delegated as much as I could and had work brought to me that needed my direct attention.”_

_Though the words were said seriously, Rodimus could feel a small ripple of amusement in the old soldier’s EM field._

_“I know you’re hurting, but we need you to be strong— **you’re still our Prime** ,” Magnus said, softly, nuzzling the side of Rodimus’ helm. “We’ll get you through this, I promise.”_

Rodimus Prime was startled awake and found himself dozing in some long grass. As he moved his head side-to-side to check his surroundings, he _hoped_ he hadn’t been screaming—as he usually did when he dreamed of that rape and humiliation. He felt a throb through his entire right side, as he usually did when he dreamed about that event. Besides Galvatron’s more obvious hacking of his command systems and sexual humiliation/rape—it had later been revealed that the object that had been thrust inside of him had been the Decepticon Leader’s own spike—Cyclonus had been sticking sharpened, narrow spears through his armour and derma. There had been hollowed wounds through him, but besides the shoulder joint, nothing had pierced any vital parts of his frame. They’d been moved around to put pressure on all sensors that ran below the dermal layer of armour and derma—disrupting the flow of healing nanites and causing an ongoing sensation of pain.

**_It was terrible_**. Even though he accepted it as a “ _past event_ ” and could usually make it through his days just fine and normally, but when he recharged—all the pain and humiliation refused to leave him alone. And now, he had a mission that he **_had_** to see through— _he had to find a new home for all Transformers, Autobots and Decepticons._

Suddenly a red spaceplane flew overhead and then dropped, transforming to primary mode as he landed. Saber rubbed the back of his neck as he approached Rodimus Prime, a little bit of anxiety rippled through the older mech’s EM field. The flame-colored mech sat up and grinned at the blue-and-red mech, patting the space next to him.

“Are you all right, Saber?” Rodimus asked as the mech sat down next to him.

“The phantom readings still choose to remain elusive,” Saber sighed softly.

The mech from planet Master had been with them for almost a month now, travelling with them. They’d done a lot of good things together, saved a few worlds from “ _evil overlords_ ” and things like that. Rodimus and the others had been happy for more company—Saber was pleasant and friendly and learned modern Cybertronian pretty fast after a few recharge sessions of learning.

“This is a really great planet, but we can’t take it if there’s a dominant life-form that we’d interfere with,” the flame-colored mech sighed. “If they’re hiding, though—I wonder **_why_** they’re hiding?” He murmured.

“Good question. _Mmmm_. I could tell you were dreaming your _‘bad dream’_ again,” Saber said, reaching a servo over and wrapping it around Rodimus Prime’s lower back, resting his grey servo lightly on red hip-plating.

Rodimus leaned over and rested his head on Saber’s shoulder, even though the mech was a bit smaller than him—he would’ve been ideal to Hot Rod’s size, though!

“I don’t know why I keep dreaming about it. I guess I don’t have enough to keep me busy and occupied through recharge,” the flame-colored mech laughed softly. “ _But man_ ………it’s such a nice day! _Look at this sunshine— **two suns**!_ Very warm and cozy here!”

“Bit of tough vegetation, though,” the red-and-blue mech laughed, leaning his head down and resting it lightly against Rodimus’ on his shoulder. “I do understand what you went through—I do not believe I ever experienced it as you have, though. Deszaras and I had a very difficult relationship and it got rough between us at times—and I do not think it was in a good way sometimes. But it was never on a level such as yours was.”

Kup had told Saber a brief summary of what happened to Rodimus Prime, some time back when he’d been Autobot Leader the first time and he was still new to the position. Rodimus hadn’t minded, but he couldn’t bear do it himself—at least it explained the random jolt-from-recharge screaming that still happened far too often to the mech from planet Master.

“And you _really_ locked him away?” Rodimus asked, remembering the story that Saber had told them of the big battle 500,000 years ago. There had actually been Autobots from Cybertron involved in that battle—it turned out Ultra Magnus had even been one of the soldiers who’d worked with Saber’s group.

“ _It had to be done_. His mobile fortress could devastate entire worlds,” the blue-and-red mech sighed. “We grew apart—he embraced Decepticon ideals and I embraced Autobot ones. I do not think there would be much reconciliation after that.”

There were times when Saber’s frame and EM field reminded Rodimus Prime so much of Ultra Magnus. The flame-colored mech had really loved Magnus, _he loved him a lot_ , but they just were not meant to be. It was funny, because he’d had a relationship with Arcee and Springer—and it did not even hold a candle to how he felt towards Ultra Magnus. But the familiarity of Saber’s presence reminded him of Ultra Magnus and it made Rodimus Prime relax and feel very comfortable. Sometimes, Rodimus found himself thinking about Saber in the way he thought about Magnus—especially when the mech from planet Master would just hold him and let his EM field ripple with warmth and comfort like this.

“ _Yeah_. Sometimes things like that happen,” the flame-colored mech sighed.

“ _You are so very strong_ , to be able to hold yourself up like this every day—a lot of mechs and femmes would have crumbled and taken their own lives if they had gone through it. Old wounds can leave fresh scars, but you seem to be able to treat such an injury when you start bleeding from it again and keep moving forwards,” Saber said, warmth in his voice. “I am amazed and pleased and _very happy_ to have met you, Rodimus Prime.”

Rodimus felt his Spark give a rapid spin within him and pushed Saber back into the grass—kissing him desperately for several long moments. Then, embarrassed by his reaction, he pulled away with a bright red faceplate and started stammering an apology, when Saber pulled him back down and initiated a kiss of his own. 

_A long kiss_ , where glossa thrust, quested and explored a foreign intake. Rodimus shifted his frame and straddled the slightly smaller one of the mech from planet Master. Saber’s grey servos slid down Rodimus Prime’s sunbright yellow spoiler, down his backstrut, and grasped lightly at the young Autobot Leader’s aft. Then the two pulled away from one another, incycling and exventing as they realized they’d put a lot of energy into a _mere kiss_.

Saber chuckled softly and Rodimus Prime laughed, leaning down and lightly cupping his light grey servos along the sides of the slightly smaller mech’s helm and faceplate. He rubbed nasal ridges with Saber and purred softly, his EM field flowing with happiness and rippling with a little bit of excitement. The red-and-blue mech from planet Master purred as well, his servos continuing to cup the young Autobot Leader’s aft and squeezing a little bit to show his interest.

“ _Ummm_. Should we…….? _I mean_ ……….. ** _do you wanna_** ………go that far………..?” Rodimus mumbled, his faceplate bright red as he lightly brushed his lips over Saber’s.

“Would **_you_** like to?” Saber asked, his smile warm as he brushed his lips over Rodimus’ chin-ridge. “Tell you what. _You take the top_ —that way you can choose to stop if you really aren’t ready for it.”

Rodimus Prime swallowed an incycle of air lightly. He thought about it and he thought Saber was right—if Rodimus took the initiator’s dominant position, he could stop if he felt bad or if it triggered bad things. And he might feel more of a trigger if he were in the submissive’s position—which would probably upset the both of them and make them both feel bad for “ _hurting_ ” the other. He’d taken the dominant position before—more towards Arcee than Springer—so, he knew what to do.

“I haven’t…….. _you know_ …….done this in a few years,” the flame-colored mech murmured, resting his servos lightly on Saber’s chestplate, rubbing the tips of his digits lightly in the indentations of the trapezoidal patterns to the right and left of the centerpiece.

“Let me help you, then— _open your spike panel_. Since you’re dominant, you don’t need to open your valve panelling at all,” the mech said, keeping his voice warm and keeping warmth and fondness flowing through his EM field, as he wrapped it around Rodimus.

The young Autobot Leader paused and then he opened just the spike panel of his interface array equipment. The red-and-blue mech pulled one dark-grey servo away from Rodimus Prime’s aft and brushed a couple digits along the underside of the partially-pressurized spike. He rubbed lightly along the slowly pulsing orange bio-lighting on the underside.

“ ** _Unnf_** ……” Rodimus grunted softly, feeling a soft bit of pressure in his groin area, as his spike pressurized just a little bit more and Saber began rubbing the edges of his digits along the ridging of his spike. “ _Mmmmm………ummmm……. **ah**!_” The flame-colored mech squeaked as the tip of Saber’s pointer-digit flicked the swollen head of his spike with a little bit of playfulness.

Pre-transfluid leaked and then spat a small burst out with the playful flick of digits against the head. Then Saber gently rubbed his thumb-digit against the curve of the swollen head and circled the little opening teasingly, as his other digits played with the ridges and ridge of biolighting.

Rodimus Prime whipped a servo up to his mouth, covering it to try and stop the lewd moaning that was suddenly erupting from his vocalizer. He was just being given a servo-jerk and acting like it was the deepest thrusting interfacing he’d ever had—he must be coming off as some kind of slut to this nice mech from planet Master! He was even more embarrassed when he overloaded, spilling a thick amount of transfluid all over Saber’s servo and abdomen. Rodimus covered his faceplate and began crying.

Saber sat up, quickly, using his transfluid covered servo to brace his position in the grass as his other servo slid up quickly from Rodimus’ aft to his spoiler, holding him gently and holding him close.

“ ** _Shhh_** _. Shhh, now_ ……….it is fine, I promise you, _this is fine_ ,” the mech murmured softly, nuzzling Rodimus’ servos and tried to get him to drop them from his faceplate and kissed the mech several times lightly on the lips to try and get him to calm down. “You are doing fine. _It is fine_ , you enjoyed me jerking you off, right?” He whispered, chuckling softly, kissing Rodimus on the nasal ridge and lips and the faceplate creases.

“ _I’m terrible_. That was horribly selfish of me……. ** _I_** ……..” the flame-colored mech sobbed softly, throwing his arms around Saber and clinging tightly to him.

“ ** _No_**. _It was fine, Rodimus_. We can keep going if you have more energy—or we can try again later, if you would like to?” The red-and-blue mech said, hugging him lightly with the one arm.

“ _Nuh-uh_ …… ** _but_** ……..you were really good. _That felt really good, Saber_ ,” Rodimus murmured, relaxing against the slightly-smaller mech and actually falling into a light recharge cycle.

Saber chuckled and held onto Rodimus Prime, letting the mech doze against him and felt the warm waves of pleasure and happiness emanating from him.

“ _It was my pleasure_ ,” the mech murmured, savoring the closeness and all of the feelings swirling around them both right now.


	4. Star Saber

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Star Saber reveals his full form and..........things change between him and Rodimus Prime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter left. :)
> 
> I hope you've all enjoyed the different work from my usual. *bows*

**_ Rating _ ** **: Explicit.**

**_ Warnings _ ** **: References to past events of rape, non-con interactions, violence, battering/abuse, emotional abuse. Also, explicit sexual situations—of which, not all are on a “romantic” level.**

**_ Primary pairing _ ** **: Star Saber and Rodimus Prime—with an interchangeable seme/uke relationship.**

**_ Inferred relationships or pairings (not all are positive relationships) _ ** **: Star Saber/Deszaras, Rodimus Prime/Galvatron, Rodimus Prime or Hot Rod/Ultra Magnus, and Arcee/Hot Rod/Springer.**

**_ Other Tags _ ** **: action, adventure, romance, drama, sadness, rape, non-con, sexual interfacing, love, friendship, war, fighting, comfort, exploration.**

_ Chapter Three: Star Saber _

“ _Not how I wanted to spend my day!_ ” Rodimus Prime groaned, ducking back behind the massive boulder as he checked the charges on his proton rifle.

“Saber did warn us there were rogue Decepticons out in the universe, lad,” Kup grunted, taking careful aim with his shots, as his charges were running low.

Blurr was using his insane speed (which meant he’d be **_starving_** for Energon when this battle was over!) to chip away shots on the large Decepticon soldier from a zillion angles—whom no one was even sure he had a name, but he was big and dumb and wanted to fight—keeping him from focusing assault on any one target. Saber was in his spaceplane mode and he was also laying down shots from the air, to help keep the big, dumb Decepticon off-balance.

“I’m worried about these people. They’ve been in hiding for the past month we’ve been here—we’ve only caught a few glimpses of them—what are they going to think of us now?” The flame-colored mech sighed. He really liked this little world and had hoped they could figure something out with the small contingent of natives that seemed to be the dominant life-form here.

“It ain’t our fault, son—you know that,” Kup responded with a consoling tone. “ _Tch_ , Blurr’s gonna get himself in a wreck if he don’t slow it up a bit,” he grunted.

“We’re at a stalemate—that guy doesn’t know he’s beat, he’d bleeding out from a dozen wounds,” Rodimus muttered, peering around the boulder and taking aim at the big Decepticon with his proton rifle. “ _He’s not going to retreat………and we can’t knock him down_ ……..” the flame-colored mech trailed off, shaking his head.

**_And it had been such a nice morning, too!_** They’d been hanging out on this world for about four weeks now—they’d been keeping an eye on a phantom reading and trying to get something going with the small groups of natives, who were steadfastly hiding from them. The Autobots held back and didn’t approach their hiding places, because they didn’t want to scare them, but they’d spoken softly and used every language any of them could muster to try and get the natives to at least open a conversation with them.

The phantom reading, of course, turned out to be this stupid Decepticon—who had apparently been terrorizing the populace for a month now. _It was no wonder the natives were too scared to come out and talk to the Autobots!_

The nice morning had started with Rodimus Prime progressing in his beginning-relationship with Saber. Over the couple weeks, after a few more rocky starts that ended up with Rodimus crying (though less and less as they kept trying), usually—the other morning, they’d **_finally_** gotten far enough into actually interfacing. Rodimus Prime cherished that memory—even though he was so awkward and it was so slow, being with Saber reminded him of how much he’d loved being with Ultra Magnus. They were both lovers that took their partner’s feelings to Spark.

Rodimus Prime was falling in love with Saber. 

And that was really all right. _It felt right._

_Kissing had made them both feel hotter. Saber was good at letting his hands roam, caressing seams and derma in just the right way to make it feel amazing. Rodimus felt like he could go all the way this time._

_He leaned into Saber’s servo with a moan, as the mech caressed his spike and teased his ridges until the flame-colored mech felt fully pressurized and tight with wanting to overload._

_“You can do it, I **know** you can,” the red-and-blue mech murmured gently, brushing light kisses along ridges of Rodimus Prime’s faceplate. “I know I’m ready to feel you inside of me, Rodimus.”_

_The young Autobot Leader was hesitant, but his frame definitely wanted to do it. He was afraid if he lingered too much longer, he’d overload in Saber’s servo again and then cry more of embarrassment. What kind of dominant position was he taking if he kept weaky-whimpery falling apart before Saber got any pleasure out of what they were doing??? Though, the one time when they **couldn’t complete it** , Saber had asked if Rodimus would watch him masturbate to completion—and that was a thrill and a treat. The mech from planet Master seemed to enjoy Rodimus Prime watching him go for it on his own._

_“ **Um. Okay**. Sorry if I’m…….” the flame-colored mech began, when suddenly Saber silenced him with a hard kiss and thrusting glossa that made the younger mech forget what he was even protesting._

_“ **No apologies**. You can do this, it will help you break the bad dreams you keep having if you can have a good relationship now—not just memories of one in your past,” the red-and-blue mech chided softly, one servo on Rodimus’ aft and the other caressing his spoiler._

_The flame-colored mech nodded slowly and shifted his hips, with Saber’s servos to guide him in. It really had been a long time since he’d put his spike in someone else’s valve, he forgot how good it could actually feel. Warm, wet—it felt like it was pulsing around him, as calipers curiously tested clenching against his length that was invading their space. Saber purred beneath him, roaming his servos around the backside of Rodimus Prime’s frame and gently pulled him closer._

_“That feels **nice**. You feel **very good** ,” the mech from planet Master chuckled warmly._

_“Yeah, you do too…..” Rodimus murmured, leaning down and slowly moving his hips. He offlined his optics and just thought about Saber, this moment and the warmth of the arms around him._

_To be perfectly honest, he never even realized when he overloaded, taking the mech beneath him along into pleasure as well._

“Daydream later, son—we need to focus on this Decepticreep,” Kup snapped, reaching over to playfully cuff the side of Rodimus Prime’s helm.

“ _Sorry_. You’re right,” the flame-colored mech chuckled softly, peering around the boulder and taking aim again at the large Decepticon.

Then, Saber laid open some cover fire and shot straight up into the sky after a fancy roll. Kup and Rodimus looked up with a bit of puzzlement, wondering if there were new enemies arriving that they hadn’t scanned. That was when they saw the V-Star dropping down from the sky and the most unexpected thing happened—both Saber and the V-Star transformed and merged and suddenly a much larger ‘bot, easily on size with the big dumb Decepticon they were fighting, dropped to the ground in front of the brutish foe.

“Wait— _did he just_ …….?” Rodimus Prime murmured, hardly believing what he just saw with his own optics.

Then a wave of uncertainty rippled through him. Saber hadn’t told them he could do that. Were there other things Saber never told them?

Were there things Saber never told **_HIM_**?

Then the larger version of the Autobot they thought they knew made a sweeping gesture and a large blade appeared in his servos. He began to fight with gusto against the big dumb Decepticon. In his much larger form, the Decepticon wasn’t as difficult to defeat. As he began to lock down the angry mech’s frame with cuffs and clamps, suddenly a surge of the natives came out (from seemingly nowhere) and began cheering, calling out “ _Star Saber!_ ” with great excitement and the rest of their words in their native language.

Rodimus Prime sank down behind the boulder, stunned at everything he’d just seen. The battles they’d fought together for months already, Saber had never done this before—he’d never shown this form. But the natives knew him in this form…………the natives **_KNEW HIM IN THIS FORM_** , that was very important to note.

Kup rose to his pedes and reached down to rub Rodimus Prime’s helm fondly, letting his EM field reach out with emotions of comfort, before he went out to greet the “ _Star Saber_ ” that all the natives were chanting and gushing over. 

“Kid, you might need to explain a few things—Rodimus feels a bit betrayed, I think,” Kup said softly, patting Star Saber’s arm.

“It isn’t as if I were hiding it—this is my full battle form, I **_only_** use it when necessary,” the tall white-blue-red mech sighed.

“Ain’t just that, kid—these planetary natives _know you_. You’ve been here before and that, m’lad, means you’re hiding something,” the greyed-blue oldmech responded with a light shake of his head. “I ain’t judgin’ ya. I’m sure ya got yer reasons, but…… _that young mech_ back there is very young compared to any of us and he’s still got a lot ta learn about livin’ the length of time that we all have. The hopes and the disappointments that come with it all.”

Star Saber exvented a deep sigh and for a moment, to Kup, it looked like he was about to disengage from this merged form. When the greyed-blue oldmech gave him a firm shake of his head, warning him not to do that, the taller Autobot relented and stayed in his fully-armoured form as he walked back to the mass of boulders that Kup and Rodimus Prime were hiding behind during the combat situation.

“Are you injured, Rodimus?” Star Saber asked, softly, as he knelt down off-to-the-side of the boulder where the flame-colored mech was hiding.

“Yes……… _and no_ ,” the young Autobot Leader mumbled softly, keeping his faceplate buried against his arms, which were against his knee-joints.

Star Saber sat down and stretched out his legs. It had been quite awhile since he’d put his armour on and he felt the aches after the excitement of battle wore down. Maybe he needed to remain in this form for a while, as well—to get used to how to move it better again?

“I wasn’t lying to you or anything, Rodimus—this battle form is something I only use rarely. **_I_** ……..” the red-blue-white mech began, softly.

“And the _smaller one_? I thought I saw a glimpse before—when you’d transform from spaceplane to primary mode,” Rodimus Prime sighed, pulling his faceplate away from hiding and resting his chin against his arm-piping. “I just dismissed it, because I wasn’t sure what I saw.”

“ _Mmmm_. Do you remember when I said that conditions were harsh on planet Master when the Autobot refugees went there? We weren’t all Autobots at the start and over time, people chose brands later. When we come into existence, we’re brandless. _But that’s not all that we are_ ,” Star Saber began. “Because Master’s environment was harsh, the refugees had to make choices and they diminished their frames to conserve on resources. Over time, new ones came into existence at only one-third of the original average size of Cybertronians.”

Rodimus frowned. Theoretically, he could see why they’d diminish their frames—but to naturally come into existence at smaller sizes seemed strange to him. There were smaller mechs and femmes like Bumblebee and Pipes—then larger ones like Ultra Magnus and Megatron, but nothing quite as small as what Saber was describing…….which was maybe about the size of a tall Earth human.

“ _It wasn’t all_. We evolved into specialized categories—our frames and our programs began to find particular purposes. There are some warriors who………well, they choose to _‘become larger’_ and for those warriors who want to serve and protect planet Master by upgrading their frames, they have their own categories with particular skill sets. For that purpose, Master’s scientists chose to create larger frames that we call _‘Transtectors’_ ,” the Autobot swordsmech began explaining in detail. “Those of us who conquered the environment and went beyond ourselves—that we had a personal evolution into the warriors we wanted to be—we would be rewarded with Transtectors.”

“I suppose even Cybertronians can adapt—maybe that’s why we are also called _‘Transformers’_?” Rodimus Prime murmured, staring at a patch of grass before him, trying to absorb all of Star Saber’s background of his planet and how it fit in with the way he was.

“So, my type is called a **_Brainmaster_** —we had programming that focused on enhancing our brain skills and most had a specific part or trait that accompanied that. Of my graduating class, I was known as the _‘Brain of Courage’_ —because I am fearless and I always move forwards, no matter what,” Star Saber said, giving a light little chuckle.

“ _So………wait! **Wait, wait, wait!**_ This explains Chromedome and the others— _the ones I left in charge while_ ………!” Rodimus began, suddenly seeing a connection to the new Autobots (and also Decepticons) who’d arrived on Cybertron and came to Earth in those last few weeks before the events happened on Cybertron. They hadn’t stayed long enough to hear Fortress and the “ _Headmasters’_ ” tale of where they came from and all of that, Rodimus Prime just knew the Autobots and Earth would be safe enough in their servos while he went to find a new home to replace Cybertron.

“I know Chromedome and those others. Fortress especially. There are others, too—not just the Headmasters or the Brainmasters. And some, like the Targetmasters, don’t need Transtectors to forward their true purpose,” the Autobot swordsmech laughed. “Fortress is like me. He has a Transtector, plus he has an _‘extra Transtector’_ , I guess you could say. And on planet Master, we don’t choose our designations until we find our true purposes. When I got my Transtector, I had great skill with a sword—therefore I chose the designation _‘Saber’_.”

Rodimus sat up straighter and rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to think it all through. The Autobot descendants on Paradron hadn’t changed all that much, just become extreme pacifists. The mechs and femmes that went to Master changed dramatically. Did that mean that any other refugees that left Cybertron during the wars………had **_they_** changed so much, as well? Would they recognize their fellow Cybertronian descendants when they encountered them?

“You talked about your old friend—your old lover, _Deszaras_? Was he from Master as well?” The flame-colored mech asked.

“There was a ragtag settlement on planet Master, descendants of Decepticons—they chose to embrace the hardships of our new world without changing their forms. The way they adapted was different—they created a kind of assistant mechanism to absorb and convert Energon for them from the very environment,” Star Saber explained, quietly. “They are called _Breastforce warriors_. The assistant mechanism can attach to their chestplating, hence the name—plus convert even the smallest and minimal sources of natural energy into Energon. They can also transform into a small beast or a weapon for the mech to use. _They like to fight_ and that’s one of the issues that divide us on planet Master.”

Rodimus Prime incycled a deep breath. It didn’t stop Saber from having a relationship with Deszaras, clearly.

“I can probably understand what you’re thinking, but Des and I fought almost as much as we fragged. We’re basically **_opposites_** and it’s easy to become fascinated by what is the polar opposite of you,” the red-white-blue mech laughed warmly.

The young Autobot Leader supposed that was true. It described his intense crush on Ultra Magnus—it probably even described Galvatron’s unholy fascination with him.

“So, when I connect with the V-Star—my full battle mode—I am known as _‘Star Saber’_. A combination of my Transtector designation that I chose and the name of the V-Star vehicle. A decade or so ago, I fought some Decepticons here on this planet—so, I believe that’s why they might remember me, it was a memorable battle,” he concluded, resting back against the boulders. “I wasn’t honestly hiding anything from you. And when you like someone, maybe it’s best to learn more over time—isn’t it? You don’t want to hear a mech’s full life-story in one day, it makes the future boring in a relationship, don’t you think?” He chuckled, reaching a servo around the boulder and brushing up against Rodimus Prime’s hip-plating.

The flame-colored mech threw back his head and laughed loudly.

* * * * *

After the event, talking with the natives wasn’t going so badly. They loved and admired ( _and practically worshipped_ ) Star Saber—who had elected to remain in his full battle form for a while. Partly to soothe ( _and impress!_ ) the natives and partly to get used to his battle form again, since he hadn’t used it in a long while.

The planet was large and called **_Myria_** by the natives. They only inhabited a portion of the planet, they didn’t know what was “ _on the other side of the world_ ”, so Rodimus Prime decided to go out with Blurr to explore the other side of the planet. The flame-colored mech needed a break to try and figure out how he felt in his Spark about Saber/Star Saber, with this new set of revelations.

He **_couldn’t_** hate Saber—or _Star Saber_ , whichever one he was, or if it mattered. He couldn’t even really be mad, because the explanation made sense—if he felt more comfortable in the “ _standard_ ” form with his main Transtector, then that was really what mattered most. And if that were true, he wasn’t actually hiding anything.

Except having been on this planet before. He hadn’t really revealed **_that_** and he probably should have. _But_ ……..the mech from planet Master said he’d forgotten what planet this was—they hadn’t seen the natives, only known they were hiding from sensor readings. And he’d been to thousands of planets, a lot of them looked the same to him and had probably “ _amalgamated_ ” memories in his memory storage of various worlds. He just hadn’t matched GPS coordinates to something he’d logged before and didn’t even think about it.

“Rodimus, ** _seriously_** areyougoingtobemadatSaberforthis?” Blurr asked as they drove along a dirt path in their alt modes, with the brightly-blue colored mech slowed up enough to pace besides a big old camper-trailer like Rodimus Prime’s alt mode. “It’sstupidifyouaskme. _Thetwoofyouwerereallygettingalonggreat!_ Idon’tthinkthisissomethingyoushouldabandonsomethinggoodover. Unlessit’saboutyourfeelingsforUltraMagnusandyoucan’tletthemgo.”

“It has nothing to do with Magnus—I mean, Magnus kinda ended the relationship we had when I got the Matrix, we just………… _weren’t compatible_ anymore, I guess,” the flame-colored mech said with a deep sigh.

“Now ** _there’salie_** ifIeverheardone. Magnuspinedoveryoueveryfraggingday. Itwasreallykindasadtoseehimdoit. Iknowthetwoofyoureallylikedeachotheralot. TheMatrixandallthatshouldn’thavemadeadifference,” Blurr grumbled, annoyance showing in his EM field and slipping away just as fast as any emotion the fast-paced Autobot ever had.

_That’s_ what Rodimus thought, too—him becoming Autobot Leader shouldn’t have mattered! But, somehow, to Ultra Magnus it _did_ mean something.

“I wasn’t small and cute anymore. Maybe he didn’t know if he should submit to me……… _I dunno_ ,” the flame-colored mech sighed.

“ _Pfft_. Submissionanddominationhavenothingtodowith ** _size_** ,” Blurr responded with a frustrated huff. “Honestly,youmechsandfemmesnowadayshavesuchweirdconceptsofrelationships!” He laughed.

Rodimus chuckled softly. “I keep forgetting you have a few centuries over me, Blurr,” he said, with warmth in his voice and fondness in his EM field.

“ _Look_. Tobehonest,youdowhat ** _youfeelisright_** inarelationship. Choosingtobethegiverorthetakerismorea ** _personalthing_**. It’snothingtodowithsizeorweightorwhatever,” Blurr chided, swerving a little close as if he were giving a playful swat or headbutt. “Andmostofall—don’tletwhatGalvatrondidtoyoualterthewayyouwanttodoanythinginarelationshipwithanyone,” he added.

Rodimus Prime hummed softly—that was something to think about. When he and Saber began to get intimate, he let Saber convince him to take the dominant position because they were both worried about being submissive being a “ _bad trigger_ ”. It wasn’t as if Rodimus hadn’t taken a dominant position with a lover before—when he’d been with Arcee and Springer it was a triangle between them. Hot Rod was dominant over Arcee, Springer was dominant over him—and later when it was just Arcee and Springer alone, he was dominant over her. When Hot Rod had his relationship with Ultra Magnus—Magnus was definitely the dominant one, but he was a different dominant than Springer was.

Magnus was _very kind_. He took his time and he made sure they both relaxed and enjoyed things. Magnus was attentive and once their frames merged, he was the right kind of energetic for Hot Rod.

_Then there was what happened with Galvatron_. The last time was the worst of all times, because the few times before, Galvatron did more of the “ _conquer and frag immediately_ ” and basically let him go. Hoping that humiliation and shame would wear the young Autobot Leader down. That last time, though—that was outright torture and the worst of all kinds of rape, taking not just Rodimus Prime’s frame, but breaking his firewalls and taking his program, too…………and actually doing physical damage to his frame.

“Whenwegetback—taketimetoactuallytalktoSaber. **_Talk,RodimusPrime,andnotjustDO_**. Talkaboutyourfeelings—yourhonestandrealfeelings. TalkaboutyourgoodrelationshipwithMagnus. NotjustthebadonewithGalvatron,” Blurr said, very seriously.

* * * * *

As it turned out—talking really was the right thing to do with Star Saber. The two of them went out to one of the many fields and just laid out on the grass and talked about things. Star Saber spoke more about his life on planet Master, while Rodimus Prime talked about how he wasn’t as old as most of the Cybertronians around nowadays and talked about his relationship with Ultra Magnus.

“I _do_ think he still loved you. I think Blurr was right—because he stayed with you after your rescue from Galavtron’s rape and torture,” Star Saber murmured, tilting his head gently towards Rodimus’, as they laid next to one another on the grass and gazed up at the stars. “I fought alongside Magnus once, long ago—one of the times I went to Cybertron and such. He was very strict with himself and I imagine that once you were in command—you were untouchable to him, now.”

“ ** _That’s_** _……..that’s just not fair!_ ” Rodimus cried, raising his servos to the sky, clenching them into fists and wishing he could rage at the universe for the way it had treated him until now.

“But you loved him the way he was,” the red-white-blue mech chuckled. “It was his own choice to make—I’m sure he never meant to hurt you, it was just in his personal rules and comfort zone not to consort above his station. It’s difficult for others to look beyond their own views, to see the way others view things.”

Rodimus Prime sighed softly.

“Saber…….. _what about us_? Do **_we_** even have a chance of anything? You’re a wanderer and I’m on a mission………..” the young, flame-colored mech said, quietly.

“It’s true, our time together will probably come to an end. But I’d like for us to meet again one day,” Star Saber murmured, reaching over and catching one of Rodimus’ servos, holding onto it firmly. “Is it worth continuing on?” He asked, his EM field echoing his curiosity.

Rodimus Prime would have loved _a permanent relationship_ —something to last him for all time. But nothing in his life had ever been permanent at this point, certainly no such thing as a relationship. And if they had to part ways, there was no saying that Star Saber wouldn’t find somebody else he’d like and to enjoy having a relationship with. There was no saying that Rodimus wouldn’t find somebody else, either—though he had to wonder who’d want a messed up and emotionally-damaged mech like him anyways. Maybe the Matrix isolated him for a reason—to be a scapegoat for the Autobots, to take all sort of pain and situations, so they didn’t have to.

“I really don’t like that feeling in your EM field now, Rodimus—is your pain that ingrained inside of you?” He asked, softly, rolling over and propping himself up on an elbow-joint so he could look down into Rodimus Prime’s blue optic glass.

“ _Yeah_. It is,” the flame-colored mech mumbled.

“It shouldn’t be. Just because you are the commander of all the Autobots because of that object in your chest—it doesn’t mean you take on the weight of all their problems,” Star Saber said, bringing a servo over to caress the slightly smaller mech’s faceplate fondly.

Rodimus Prime chuckled and smiled softly. A serene old Japanese man told him that once, too. “ _Giri_ ”—or obligation—was what drove you, but it did not necessarily mean that the burdens of the world had to be shouldered by you. That statement had touched Hot Rod in his wavering sense of wanting or not wanting to be Autobot Leader—and in the end, he knew that being Autobot Leader was what he was meant to do. But apparently Rodimus still felt being in charge meant he took on everyone’s problems, since that’s what he always thought Optimus Prime always did.

But maybe **_Optimus_** didn’t always do that either. Or if Optimus did do all that— _it didn’t have to be what **Rodimus Prime** did._

_That’s_ what Star Saber was trying to say to him.

It didn’t matter what **_Optimus Prime_** did as Autobot Leader. It didn’t matter what **_Alpha Trion_** did as Autobot Leader, assuming he was—that was always an odd point of history never quite conceded to or defied. It didn’t matter what **_any other Autobot_** considered the Autobot Leader ever did—all that mattered right now was what **_Rodimus Prime_** did.

And he’d always had the thoughts and Sparks of the Autobots foremost on his mind. He always wanted to do what was right for them and for their future. But that didn’t mean he had to shoulder their problems all the time. He could help them find their way if they were lost, but he _didn’t_ have to do it for them.

He didn’t have to do things for them, as long as what he did do kept all their interests and safety at Spark.

“You know—I’m not sure, but what is your _preferred designation_? You know, what you like to be called the most?” Rodimus asked, curiously.

“I’ll admit—I’m very fond of **_Star Saber_** , because it sounds incredibly heroic, don’t you think?” The bigger mech laughed, leaning down and rubbing his nasal ridge against the flame-colored mech’s/ “And you? Given a choice—what would _you_ respond to?” He asked, his lips near and brushing against Rodimus’.

“You know—it’s funny, I really always did like **_Hot Rod_** ,” the flame-colored mech chuckled, offlining his optics and reaching a servo up to cup the back of Star Saber’s neck. “And, honestly—I like being the _receiver_. I can do the giver thing, but I would rather get from a lover than give it.”

“ _Understood_. I suppose we both tried too hard to make ourselves acceptable to each other—instead of simply being our honest selves,” the powerful swordsmech said softly. Then he kissed Rodimus Prime—and this time, it felt better than right.


	5. A Parting of the Ways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rodimus Prime's worst nightmare and a divergence of paths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, one and all. *bows*

**_ Rating _ ** **: Explicit.**

**_ Warnings _ ** **: References to past events of rape, non-con interactions, violence, battering/abuse, emotional abuse. Also, explicit sexual situations—of which, not all are on a “romantic” level.**

**_ Primary pairing _ ** **: Star Saber and Rodimus Prime—with an interchangeable seme/uke relationship.**

**_ Inferred relationships or pairings (not all are positive relationships) _ ** **: Star Saber/Deszaras, Rodimus Prime/Galvatron, Rodimus Prime or Hot Rod/Ultra Magnus, and Arcee/Hot Rod/Springer.**

**_ Other Tags _ ** **: action, adventure, romance, drama, sadness, rape, non-con, sexual interfacing, love, friendship, war, fighting, comfort, exploration.**

_ Chapter Four: A Parting of the Ways _

“Look at that sunset,” Rodimus Prime said softly, standing on the beach with Star Saber. “Two suns really make a _really_ cool sunset,” he murmured, his servo-grip tightening around the taller mech’s.

“Lingering here won’t change our plans,” Star Saber chuckled, accepting the tighter grip with a return of his own.

“ _Yeah_. No, it won’t,” the flame-colored mech sighed. “I’ll go back to Earth and Athenia and let the Autobots know I found a place for us—if anyone wants to come. Maybe Decepticons, too, if they can play nice.”

The young Autobot Leader’s EM field leaked with sadness and regret. Once Rodimus made the decision to head back to Earth—Star Saber was only staying on Myria long enough to wait for the Autobots to return and start setting up a remote colony to share with the natives. Then Star Saber would be moving on, back to his days of finding planets and people to protect, because he always got restless being in one place after awhile.

“I’m sure we’ll meet again one day,” the old warrior chuckled, dragging their clasped servos up to his chestplating and leaning down to kiss the flame-colored mech’s knuckles.

**|Lad—I’ve got a reading you’re not going to like, hurtling towards Myria!|**

Rodimus Prime looked up to the sky when he read Kup’s glyph-message and saw a moving light getting closer. And it didn’t take long before the falling object slammed down onto the beach, slightly in the water, and made a massive impact so much so that neither Autobot could see what it was that fell. But the flame-colored mech knew _that_ EM field anywhere and a shudder rushed through him.

“ ** _Prrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeee!!!_** ” The deep snarl resounded all around them. “ _This is where you’ve been hiding all this time!_ Leaving me to such a terrible fate on Cybertron…….” the powerful Decepticon growled as the spray dampened his armour and made it shine in the falling suns’ light.

“ _You’re the aft that decided to go down with the ship!_ ” Rodimus Prime snapped back, but his pedes moved in the opposing direction from where Galvatron was standing in the tide and surf.

“I told you before, **_you belong to me_** —your fate is in my servos and your frame is to be bent to my whims,” the Decepticon warmech growled fiercely.

Star Saber stepped forwards, drawing his V-Saber. “ _Ahem_ , I believe you’re mistaken. Because right now—this mech belongs to **_me_** ………and he deserves to be treated like a living being and not a sex toy,” the Autobot warrior said firmly.

Rodimus Prime’s Spark warmed when Star Saber said that about him. He wished that this moment was just a dream—Galvatron, alive and coming for him was never a good sign. It was worse than his very worst nightmares………

“ _Your foolish Autobots also tried to bury me beneath a glacier on Earth—but I am Galvatron and I am indestuctable!_ ” The purple-and-grey mech snarled, taking steps towards the two Autobots. “Then I overheard an interesting thing saying you had gone out into space looking for a new home. It did not take much effort to follow the trail of the one and only **_true_** Autobot Leader.”

Rodimus began to try and hide behind Star Saber’s very large form and the warrior tensed up for combat.

“This would go so much easier for us all if you would just surrender to me right now—I should like to pay you back for blowing up Cybertron on me and for your Autobots thinking that burying me in ice would kill me,” Galvatron chuckled, extending a servo towards them. “Did we not have plenty of fun together?”

“ ** _You’re a Primus-be-damned psychopath!_** ” Rodimus Prime cried, his anxiety peaking. This couldn’t be happening—Galvatron couldn’t suddenly be here. Pain lanced through his Spark as all of his worst memories of all he’d suffered at Galvatron’s servos assaulted his memories.

Star Saber felt Rodimus Prime’s anxiety increasing and could tell the younger mech was getting close to hyperventilation or collapse behind him. The one thing he knew for sure was that he needed to get Galvatron away from the flame-colored mech and take care of him decisively.

“Dear Hot Rod—whatever happens, I _won’t_ let you be hurt, I promise,” the great Autobot warrior said. Then he sheathed his V-Saber and ran forwards to tackle Galvatron. As his frame made contact with the Decepticon warmachine’s, he swept them up and activated his booster rockets to jet them swiftly out into space and crashing onto the small Myrian moon.

“ _Nnngh_ —foolish Autobot, I will dispose of you and return to that pathetic little world to claim what is rightfully mine,” the purple-and-grey mech snarled.

“Rodimus Prime is right—you _are_ a psychopath,” Star Saber sighed softly. “ _Yours?_ He **_never_** gave himself to you— _you wrecked him up_ , Spark and program! One can only belong to another willingly—to take by force is no proof of any kind of ownership!” The powerful Autobot warrior snapped.

The two mechs rushed at each other, ferociously. Star Saber was the better warrior, but Galvatron’s bullheaded ferocity was more than a match for the Autobot warrior’s skills. The red-white-blue mech pulled back once, when a concerned query came up on his HUD—he glyphed Rodimus Prime back quickly with a confirmation that everything was fine and he’d be in contact when the fight was done. He didn’t want the flame-colored mech to worry about him, but he could understand why Rodimus was so concerned—especially given everything that Star Saber had learned about the younger mech’s horrific abuse at Galvatron’s servos.

And he was **_NOT_** going to sully his beloved V-Saber on Galvatron’s frame, he would handle this mess with just his martial skills—which were well above the average Autobot soldier’s skills and on par with a highly respected warrior that was well-known…… _Ultra Magnus_. Eventually, after several hours of combat—sometimes pulling back to catch a brief break, to evaluate the situation and to assess each other’s skills—it was finally over.

Star Saber slammed Galvatron into the rocky, dusty surface of Myria’s moon and threw his weight down onto the Decepticon warrior’s bulky frame, grabbing the arms and wrenching them back behind the cannon-bracer along Galvatron’s backstrut. The old Autobot warrior exvented a deep sigh of relief and was surprised when a familiar speeder craft landed in a nearby area on the moon.

“Saber—I assessed your EM field in fierce combat and came to find out what was going on,” the soft-spoken, warm voice said.

“ _Ginrai_. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you—you’ve gone through another frame-adjustment,” Star Saber grunted, still holding on to Galvatron tightly.

“I’m on my way to a planet called Earth, to evaluate it for the force—some Autobots…….” the red-and-blue mech said, tilting his head, puzzled.

“ _Yeah?_ Well, I wouldn’t linger there unless you……..really, **_that_** frame, Ginrai?” Star Saber sighed, shaking his head as he apprised the frame of his friend fully. “Take this advice from me, old friend—wait a few years before you go there, all right? Or stay deeply under cover.”

“I’ll take that advice, just remember………I may come to you with a favor one day,” Ginrai chuckled. “Want me to take this ‘Con off your servos?” He asked, nodding down at the fuming Decepticon warrior being restrained by his old friend.

“He’s strong and extremely dangerous— _be careful_. He needs to go in the harshest maximum security facility you can find,” the powerful Autobot warrior responded, getting to his pedes and hauling Galvatron up, who wasn’t doing anything more than grumbling. Probably because he knew complaints would be a waste of energy. “Keep **_this_** away from him—he can channel plasma energy through subspace to it.”

With that, Star Saber yanked off Galvatron’s nova cannon and tossed it to Ginrai. Then the two of them walked to Ginrai’s speeder. They secured him firmly in a holding space of the ship and Ginrai tossed the nova cannon into the space under his piloting seat.

“You’ve lost your funny accent, Saber—your modern Cybertronian is far more passable now,” the red-and-blue mech laughed as he doublechecked the security of his hold.

“Rodimus Prime helped me out with that—he and his friends,” Star Saber answered, smiling beneath his facial shield. “They’re waiting for me down on Myria—I just hope I can convince the young Rodimus Prime that his nightmare is over, as far as Galvatron’s concerned.”

“Is that the current Autobot Commander?” Ginrai asked, curiously.

“ _Yes_. He’s a young Autobot and I think leadership may have been thrust upon him a bit too suddenly, but he has _incredible potential_ —I think age will make him **_legendary_** one day,” the Autobot warrior answered with a chuckle.

“You _like_ him,” the Autobot-and-galactic police officer laughed, warmly.

“ _I like him a lot_ ,” Star Saber responded. “How should I explain to Rodimus about Galvatron?”

“Just tell him the truth—you don’t need to mention my name specifically, but you can let him know a friend in law enforcement took him to see him imprisoned somewhere,” Ginrai answered, settling down in his pilot’s seat. “We’ll see each other again, Saber— _take care_!”

“You, too,” the warrior chuckled, departing from the mech’s ship and then he took a few moments to settle his systems, to glyph Rodimus Prime that he was on his way back to Myria—and that Galvatron had been taken care of.

* * * * *

Rodimus Prime wasn’t there, at the little outpost on the beach, when Star Saber returned.

“I had Blurr take him out for some exercise,” Kup reported, giving a deep sigh and crossed his arms over his chestplating. “Seeing Galvatron after all this time upset the lad—and he worried about you fightin’ him.”

“ _Mmmm_ ,” the Autobot warrior murmured, ducking his head. “But you all are leaving tomorrow—I don’t want him to leave without seeing him before you all go,” he added, sighing deeply. “Not just to say good-bye, I want to reassure him that Galvatron’s been dealt with. I trust Ginrai to make sure he’s locked up securely.”

“ ** _That_** mech’s still messin’ ‘bout with the police force?” Kup laughed softly.

“I’m sure he will always work in some kind of law enforcement,” Star Saber responded, grinning beneath his facial shield. “I’m going to go find Rodimus—I’m going to go take him to the hot springs on the other side of the planet for privacy.”

“ _Don’t forget to bring the lad back by mornin’!_ ” Kup laughed.

Star Saber found Blurr and Rodimus Prime sparring—he could feel the worry and anxiety in the flame-colored mech’s field. That made him worry—he thought they’d made progress on some of Rodimus’ anxieties, but clearly seeing Galvatron again showed they were just covered up and not dealt with. Suddenly, Blurr pointed in Star Saber’s direction with a grin—which made Rodimus Prime turn around. His field rippled with relief and then turned a bit inwards with depression. He crossed an arm over his chestplate and gripped his other arm, his servo clenching and unclenching against it nervously.

Blurr left quickly and smiled at the both of them.

“ _Are_ ……are you mad at me for failing to stand up against Galvatron?” Rodimus asked quietly.

“Of course not, dear Hot Rod,” the warrior Autobot chuckled, softly, moving closer and brushing his knuckles against the lined ridges of the flame-colored mech’s faceplate, tracing them tenderly with the lightest of touches. They made him look so old, even though he was so very young compared to many Autobots. “And I’ve dealt with him. While fighting him on the moon, a friend of mine showed up—who works with a galactic police force—I entrusted Galvatron to him, he’ll see to it that the Decepticon is locked away securely, _forever_.”

“Forever is a **_stupid_** word. _It’s never true_ ,” Rodimus Prime snapped, getting angry for the first time in Star Saber’s presence. “Do you know how many times I’ve had that ridiculous word directed at me? _‘It’s not forever, Hot Rod. You won’t feel that pain forever, Rodimus. You won’t be so anxious forever, Prime.’_ I hate the word _‘forever’_ —it has no meaning to it.”

Star Saber knew without asking, Ultra Magnus said those words to him. Maybe a few other older Autobots, but he was most likely remembering Ultra Magnus for them. Rodimus Prime— ** _Hot Rod_** —had loved Ultra Magnus so much……..and felt lost, hurt and betrayed when Ultra Magnus would no longer continue their relationship once he became Autobot Leader. Maybe all those things and above all—Rodimus Prime felt unworthy and worthless to the one mech he considered the focal point of his own personal universe.

“You can blame Ultra Magnus for some things, but for caring about your well-being should never be one of them. _‘Forever’_ is a term we use to soothe others. To give them hope of brighter and better times further on in their lives,” Star Saber said, serenely, sliding the servo touching the flame-colored mech’s faceplate around to the back of his neck and gently pulled him forward.

“I don’t know if I can believe that anymore, Star Saber,” he murmured, softly, resting his helm against the warrior’s chestplating and trying to relax and remember to be happy at a friend and partner such as the bold-colored mech. But he _couldn’t_ —because he was leaving tomorrow and he might never see Star Saber ever again. Another loss in his life of someone he loved. No matter how much they wished to meet again, the likelihood of that was against them. **_It always was._**

His arms slid around as much of the larger mech’s frame as he could get them and he dug his digits hard against the red-white-blue armour. Star Saber shuttered his optics and incycled a deep breath, lightly patting Rodimus Prime’s back and head, gently and soothingly. He could feel the light stabby-ripple of sadness in the younger mech’s EM field. And though silent, he knew Rodimus Prime was crying because of the slight tremors going through his frame.

“Let me have one more night with you, then—if you’re so sure it’s going to end when we part on the morn,” the warrior mech said softly, nuzzling the top of his helm.

“You just want me for my frame,” Rodimus Prime mumbled, his voice muffled against the other mech’s chestplating.

“I want you for your _passion and energy_ —everything that makes you **_YOU_** ,” the warrior chuckled in return. “Your frame is just a really lovely bonus package.”

“ _Aft_ ,” the flame-colored mech muttered, but light amusement was in the tone of his voice.

Before Rodimus Prime could protest any more, Star Saber scooped the mech into his arms and leaped into the air—he flew towards the “ _darker side_ ” of the planet, as the natives called it. The side where there wasn’t much in the way of higher intelligent life, it was mostly untamed wilderness and wild animals. It was the side the Autobots aimed to colonize, if Rodimus Prime’s plans went all right—the natives said they could have it, because they didn’t want it. Once there were more Autobots there, more talking would happen along the lines of cementing a partnership with the natives. Currently, the small outpost on the beach was where they interacted with the natives from.

He dove into the deep end of the massive heated lake—when properly cultivated, it would become a wonderful hot springs oasis for Transformers. The heat was soothing on the joints and frame, with minerals revitalizing self-healing nanites in the frame. Beneath the water he pushed Rodimus Prime away from his frame and apprised the flame-colored mech gazing at him with both confusion and anticipation. Star Saber pressed servos along Rodimus’ sides, his digits grazing microseams and scrubbing gently at armour and derma.

It was the weirdest and oddly sexiest bathing sessions the flame-colored mech oddly had. Enjoying the foreplay with an underwater bath was a bit weird, but combined with the heat of the hot springs lake, it made him relax more—and the more he relaxed, the more he got into the anticipation of interfacing. Once Star Saber felt they were clean enough, the two rose to the surface and treaded water to keep above the surface.

“ _I needed that_. A good dunking,” Rodimus Prime chuckled softly. He brushed digits lightly on Star Saber’s broad, shielded chestplating.

“ _Mmm-mmm_. You have every right to be upset. It’s unfair of life to keep throwing you garbage,” the Autobot warrior responded, cherishing the feel of the flame-colored mech’s digits skimming his microseams and caressing mere inches on his frame with love and anticipation. “Unfortunately, life will probably not stop doing so—just do your best and become stronger. And when you’re not sure you are strong enough, lean on your comrades and companions—they really won’t mind. You don’t need to be the leader they all expect you to be. The Matrix of Leadership chose you for what **_YOU_** were—not what everyone else expected you to be.”

“I think………I think I always knew that, really. I just……..I didn’t want to disappoint the Autobots—they **_all_** saw Optimus Prime choose Ultra Magnus as his successor, nobody saw the Matrix choose me except for Galvatron and Unicron,” the flame-colored mech mumbled, his digits fumbling across the wing-edges of Star Saber’s chestplate shield as a ripple of anxiety gripped his Spark once again. “I figured……..I needed to be like Magnus. We’d been lovers for years, so I knew him. Maybe I disappointed him by trying to be like him and getting too impatient when it wasn’t working.”

“You need to be _yourself_ , dear Hot Rod—and nobody else at all,” Star Saber chuckled, leaning back and pulling Rodimus against him, swimming them both towards the shore of the heated lake. “Don’t let people define you—define yourself, by your words and your actions.”

“ _Yeah_ ,” the flame-colored mech mumbled, letting the warrior scoop him into his arms and walk out of the lake towards a rocky overlook of the area. He let their frames air-dry as they laid out on the rocks, the remainders of the warm afternoon sun drying them and soothing them both. “This is like the stupidest last day we’ve had.”

“ _Ah-ha-ha!_ I’ve been trying to get you to relax so we could do something fun before you go, but you keep stressing out,” Star Saber laughed warmly. “Galvatron’s gone—and maybe not forever, but he won’t plague you for awhile. You _don’t_ have to be the Autobot Leader they’re pressuring you to be, you just have to be yourself—and that’s what the Matrix of Leadership wanted you to do. Stop worrying about these things and just move forward, dear Hot Rod—you are so much more splendid than you think!”

“You and your funny words, Saber,” Rodimus Prime laughed, sitting up and looking down at the mech. He was really big in this combined frame. “Then I will try to be _‘splendid’_ one day. Thank you, for everything—for your company. For the interfacing. For your friendship.”

“Thank you, for being _yourself_ ……….dearest Hot Rod,” Star Saber responded, reaching a servo up and cupping the back of Rodimus Prime’s neck, pulling him down for a kiss, that began something a whole lot more.

* * * * *

“ _Mmmm_ ……… ** _again_** ………do that again………” Rodimus Prime panted, looking up at Star Saber and reaching up his arms towards the bigger mech.

The Autobot warrior was resting on his folded legs and had pulled the flame-colored mech up by the lower half of its frame, so that the mech was practically upsidedown. Deft, but large, digits probed Rodimus’ wet folds of mesh, spreading him open wide—sometimes rubbing lightly over dimly glowing sensors right inside the firm rim of his valve opening. Star Saber had folded back his warrior’s facial shield and sometimes made long, luscious strokes with his glossa.

When the tip of the ridged, soft-metal glossa scraped against his swollen anterior node, the flame-colored mech went into a small, mind-numbing overload. Pleasure vibrated through his frame, begging for more—wanting, so very desperately, an all-consuming, all-draining overload. But there was no way Star Saber was giving into such a desperate plea just yet—not when they had all night long.

Rodimus Prime was leaving in the morning—it was a long enough trip back to Earth and Athenia and Kup would likely let the younger mech sleep as long as he wanted to. So the older Autobot could take all night to make love to him—and there was no need to let him sleep when they could have one another’s company for the last night they would probably know each other.

Even as he looked up through his spread legs at the mech laving attention on his array, he could see his swollen spike, jutting hard and erect against his abdomen. His abdomen and chest were splashed with his own transfluid from the multiple small overloads that Star Saber had given him. Rodimus hadn’t felt this good………with the right mix of satisfaction and longing for more rippling through his frame with ecstasy.

Star Saber could easily go into ecstatic overload just from the sensations in Rodimus Prime’s EM field alone— ** _SO PASSIONATE_**! His HUD kept flashing with messages that ranged from asking to open his array, to asking for permission to overload—all of which he cancelled and denied.

“ _Oh, Primus_ ………. ** _seriously_** —give me more, right **_THERE_**!” Rodimus Prime groaned, his back arching as Star Saber’s glossa pushed deeply into the spread folds of his valve and flicked rapidly along the sensor strips around the rim.

Nobody had ever given care to those sensor strips before—it was always the anterior node on the outside and the charge sensors deeper inside. The sensor strips were more for friction and generating more charge during actual thrusting interfacing. Rodimus whimpered as his body clenched and tensed, another light overload rippling through him. He barely had a chance to incycle a breath before Star Saber’s glossa plunged deep, as tips of digits pulled his rim wide—the Autobot warrior was eating him out thoroughly. The flame-colored mech overloaded another short one in quick succession to the last.

“ _Hah…….. **haaaaah**_ ……..I think you might kill me with overloads, Star Saber. When are you……?” The young Rodimus Prime mumbled, bringing his arms up over his faceplate, even though his optics shuttered, he felt like the view of the mech eating his valve was burned into his optical imagery forever and he was embarrassed at how much he felt like enjoying it—it probably showed completely in his faceplate.

“Your capacitors are nowhere near full—it will be a _splendid overload_ when you reach it,” the warrior mech chuckled warmly. He reached down and gently brought Rodimus into his lap. 

The sudden change in position made the flame-colored mech a little dizzy and he leaned forwards to place his forehead against Star Saber’s chestplate shield. When Rodimus Prime’s optics focused a little, he found his gaze down into their laps and he saw the older mech’s very large spike fully erect and gleaming in the space there.

“ _Jeeze_ , yours is so much bigger than mine,” Rodimus laughed softly, reaching a servo down to brush it. He rubbed the tips of his digits around it, feeling the seams of the extension derma, then wrapped his digits around the swollen organ.

“Well, I have a larger frame here—this one,” the old Autobot warrior chuckled warmly, nuzzling the top of Rodimus Prime’s helm with great fondness. He could feel the anticipation and lust in the flame-colored mech’s EM field. He purred softly as the younger mech began stroking his spike, his palm pressing gently at times.

“Well, _I’m_ tired of your taunting and teasing,” Rodimus said, bluntly, placing his servos up on Star Saber’s shoulders and lifting his frame up to place the rim of his valve against the tip of the larger mech’s huge spike. He shifted his hips a little, rubbing the mesh lips against the tip, getting it damp enough to thrust down upon it with the least amount of discomfort. “I’m taking you now— _thank you very much_!” He chortled as he pushed himself down hard on the spike and took it in as deeply as he could get in the sitting position in the older mech’s lap.

“ _Splendid, indeed_ ……” Star Saber purred, his large servos gently cradling the flame-colored mech’s hips. “You aren’t too uncomfortable are you?” He murmured, kissing the top of the red helm lightly.

“ _Pffft. **No**._ You’re big and you feel good,” Rodimus snorted back, pounding one fist on the mech’s chesplating. “I want to remember how **_good_** interfacing is. I don’t want to remember how bad it can be. Do you think I can just remember you fragging me and not Galvatron?” He murmured, resting his head against the winged chestplate shield and rotating his hips inbetween small thrusts, working the large spike deeper into his valve.

“I hope that one day, it’s **_all_** you remember—the good and not the bad,” Star Saber whispered, his servos caressing around to cup the smaller mech’s aft and letting him do all the moving as he wanted.

Rodimus Prime slid his servos and splayed them, with palms open, on the winged chestplate shield. He huffed and groaned a bit as he shifted his hips and lifted them until just the head of Star Saber’s spike was just within the rim of his valve. Then he tilted his head up to see the older mech gazing down at him, his blue optics glowing brightly with arousal and need. The flame-colored mech’s arms shot up and he cupped the sides of the larger mech’s helm and pulled it down, to kiss him deeply. As Rodimus thrust his glossa into the other mech’s welcoming intake, he rotated his hips in a small circular pattern, as if stirring his valve lubricant with Star Saber’s spike-tip.

They devoured one another’s intakes, desperately, longingly, as Rodimus Prime’s hip movements went from slow and circular motions to harder up-and-down motions on the large spike. The lubricant made it so easy for him to move, even with a spike as large as Star Saber’s. Their mouths parted and Rodimus panted loudly, his servos still cupping the sides of the older mech’s helm as his head tilted down and his optics shuttered. He didn’t speak any words, but his EM field was a storm of pure lust and a deep desire for overload—right here and right now.

Star Saber lightly nipped at the central raised ridge décor of Rodimus Prime’s helm, then licked it, letting his own EM field wrap and tangle all around the flame-colored mech’s. He allowed his arousal and lust to merge and increase the sensations in the younger mech’s. He felt the smaller mech shift his hips more rapidly, riding the warrior with a pace that he wouldn’t be able to keep up for long, even as the flame-colored mech’s spike bumped and rubbed against Star Saber’s abdominal derma.

“ ** _AhaaaaaahhhhAHHHHHAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!_** ” Rodimus cried, a tone that someone not knowing they were fragging might think was pain—but it was sheer and wanted pleasure.

Rodimus Prime felt the surge of Star Saber’s transfluid fill him and gush out around the spike and valve that were crushed together in interfacing. His backstrut arched as the transfluid hit all the charge sensors and sent more overload commands through the flame-colored mech’s systems until he overloaded three more times on the same interfacing. Then he collapsed, sobbing a little and clutching at Star Saber desperately.

Even though there were tears, the older Autobot warrior knew that the interfacing was perfect—the younger mech was truly satisfied. He was only saddened because this was their final night together and he didn’t want it to end. Star Saber wrapped his arms around Rodimus Prime and crooned softly to him, waiting for both of their frames to wind down enough to part from each other before causing problems.

* * * * *

The next morning came soon enough. 

Rodimus Prime stifled a yawn as he walked beside Star Saber across the beach. They clasped servos and walked in silence. Then they were at the outpost and both could sense the thrumming engines of the small craft that he, Kup and Blurr had been using to look for another world to call home for the Transformers.

“I guess it _really is_ finally good-bye,” the flame-colored mech sighed, his grip tightening sadly.

“I’ll see you for a few moments when you get back with the others—and then I have to go on my way,” Star Saber answered.

“ _Yeah_ , I know,” Rodimus mumbled.

“I’m sure we can meet again, one day—after you’ve gotten people settled down here and I’ve finished doing my tasks that I’ve wanted to do,” the older warrior chuckled.

“ _Maybe_. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the future holds,” the flame-colored mech whispered. He pulled on Star Saber’s arm and reached up on the tips of his pedes to kiss the facial shield on the larger mech. “Take care, okay?”

“ _I will_. I promise. And you take care as well,” the Autobot warrior responded.

Rodimus Prime started walking forwards, as Star Saber held his spot—their clasped servos extended their arms out until pressure made the digits uncurl from around each other and part. Tips brushing one final moment, before the space between them had become longer than arm’s length. The flame-colored mech’s digits twitched and he wanted to step back towards those arms, but he fought the personal urge and brought his servo to his chest, clenching it into a fist, as he turned away from Star Saber and walked towards his ship.

It was a longer distance that their EM fields could touch each other for. And they both cherished those final intimate touches until Rodimus Prime boarded his ship and the hatch closed. Then they lost all contact with each other once the ship lifted off and headed course back towards Earth and Athenia.


End file.
